This report summarizes the discussions held in the context of the Roundtable on Digital Financial Inclusion in Africa during the 2017 EIB Africa Day, which was co-organized in Berlin on July 6th, 2017 by the EIB, Afrika-Verein der Deutschen Wirtschaft and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. It aims at providing an interim thematic update in between two editions of the EIB’s Study of Banking Sectors in sub-Saharan Africa.

This study presents the macroeconomic context of sub-Saharan Africa and gives an overview of current developments and trends in the region’s banking sector. In addition, it discusses challenges to and opportunities for further development of the sub-Saharan African banking sector, including the ones related to access to finance and infrastructure financing.